Bonfire Night is a time to get friends and family together for the evening to watch the fireworks display and gather round the bonfire. It's also a time to serve up some hot, delicious dishes!
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The origins of Bonfire Night date back to the Gunpowder Plot in London on 5th November 1605, when a group of Catholic dissidents planned to blow up the Protestant King James I and his MPs by igniting 36 barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament.
Their plot to restore a Catholic monarch to the throne was foiled when someone tipped off the authorities, leading to the arrest for treason of the ringleaders, including explosives expert Guido "Guy" Fawkes.
While the tradition of "penny for the guy" symbolises burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on the bonfire, to celebrate the king's life being spared, you may wonder where all the food traditions of Bonfire Night originated?
People always want something warm to eat around the bonfire. With the average November temperature dropping to between 4°C and 10°C in the UK, according to the Met Office, we all need a winter warmer while we watch the fireworks.
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Pumpkin soup
Using either parsnips or pumpkins as the main ingredient, soup is a popular choice. Parsnip soup has long been a favourite, because there would have been plenty of them about in years gone by, after the harvest, so it would be a cheap and simple dish to make.
The same recipe can be followed with pumpkins, using up any pumpkins left over from carving Halloween lanterns. Waste not want not!
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan and cook two finely chopped onions for five minutes, until soft. Add 1 kg of pumpkin, cut into chunks. Cook for around ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until it starts to turn golden and soften.
Add 700 ml of chicken or vegetable stock into the pan. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes, until the pumpkin is very soft. Add 150 ml of double cream and bring back to the boil again. Finally, purée the soup with a blender.
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Toasted marshmallows
This is a very simple Bonfire Night snack that provides fun for all the family, especially the kids, who can be supervised toasting marshmallows over the bonfire.
The origins of toasting marshmallows on a fire originate from the days before people had electric and gas cookers: first recorded by the Ancient Egyptians in 2000 BC, when a wild herb, the marshmallow plant, was discovered growing in marshlands. They combined the sap with honey to create marshmallow confectionery.
Today, you can simply buy ready-made marshmallows in the supermarket and put them on a poker, or a long skewer, to toast on the bonfire. Never let children do this activity on their own, due to the risks.
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Jacket potatoes
A traditional Bonfire Night food, jacket potatoes were roasted on the bonfire in years gone by and served with lashings of butter, or mushy peas in some regions. Today, unless you have a lot of time to spare while you wait for them to cook, it's easier to pop the fresh potatoes in the oven or microwave.
Cook the potatoes until the skins turn dark and crispy. Then, break them open and sprinkle with a little salt. Add butter and mix it into the potato to create a delicious, creamy consistency. Then, wrap them in foil to keep them warm before serving.
There are plenty of options for fillings: try baked beans and melted cheese together, with coleslaw if you like it. Make BLT potatoes by adding crispy bacon pieces, shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and mayonnaise. If you like spicy food, add a chilli topping, made from either shredded beef or vegetables. Then, add cream on top. Maybe you could try cheese and chutney; pile grated cheese on to the hot potato and add a spoonful of shop bought onion chutney.
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Parkin
Delicious homemade parkin, flavoured with molasses and ginger, is another Bonfire Night favourite.
Heat the oven to 160°C, gas mark 3. Butter a 22 cm square cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Beat one egg and 4 tbsp milk together. Melt 200g golden syrup, 85g treacle, 85g soft brown sugar and 200g butter together in a pan on a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then remove from the stove.
Mix 100g medium oatmeal, 250g self-raising flour and 1 tbsp ground ginger together. Stir them into the syrup mixture and then add the egg and milk. Combine them all together and pour the mixture into the tin.
Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, until the cake is firm to touch. Leave to cool in the tin and wrap it in foil. Keep it for a couple of days before eating, as it will become softer and moister.
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Bonfire bangers
Sausages are a more modern bonfire tradition, but a good one, as "bonfire bangers" are one of the most dynamite dishes you can create to accompany your firework fun! We're talking hotdogs with a twist. You'll need plenty of brioche rolls, chipolata sausages, spicy salsa from a jar, honey, finely sliced red onions and dark brown sugar.
Cook the sausages in a roasting tin in your oven for around 20 minutes ‘til they are browned, then drop them into your marinade of salsa and honey mixed together and put them back in the oven for a further ten minutes.
While waiting for the sausages to cook, melt butter in a pan, sprinkle it with dark brown sugar and add the onions. Let it sizzle slowly in the pan for 30 minutes to create caramelised onions. Put the sausages in the brioche rolls, add the caramelised onions and a dash of mustard or ketchup and serve them up. Use meat-free sausages for a vegetarian option and prepare the same way.
We're sure there won't be any food left after your bonfire party, but if there is, don't let it go to waste! Parkin becomes more moist over a few days and as long as you store it in a sealed container, the flavour will grow and you can enjoy a tasty treat with your cup of tea afterwards.
You can freeze most of the food including the soup, leftover ingredients, jacket potatoes, toppings for the potatoes and the sausages.
Have a banging Bonfire Night, peeps!
